Saturn: the "Ringed Beauty" and His Moons
|
|
|
Saturn-PIA10539-M.jpgSpokes (natural - but enhanced - colors; credits: Lunar Explorer Italia)66 visiteCaption NASA:"A large group of Spokes emerges from Saturn's shadow in this image taken of the morning side of the Rings. Such groupings may hold clues to the manner in which these features are formed.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Nov. 2, 2008 at a distance of approx. 869.000 Km (such as about 540.000 miles) from Saturn and at a Phase angle of 37°.
Image scale is approx. 48 Km (such about 30 miles) per pixel".MareKromium
|
|
Saturn-PIA10553-1.jpgThe Blue Pole of Saturn (natural colors; credits: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute and Lunar Explorer Italia)54 visiteCaption NASA:"Saturn's North Pole is littered with storms, as we see in this color view of it. A bit of the North Polar Hexagon is also visible at the upper-right. Cassini scientists are looking forward to sunrise on this Pole next year so that they can better study it in Visible Light.
Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this full color view. The images were obtained with the Cassini Spacecraft wide-angle camera on Nov. 16, 2008 at a distance of approx. 673.000 Km (such as about 418.000 miles) from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-Spacecraft, or Phase, Angle of 71°.
Image scale is roughly 37 Km (about 23 miles) per pixel".MareKromium
|
|
Saturn-PIA10558.jpgPolar Blue (possible True Colors; credits: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute)54 visiteCaption NASA:"Saturn's North Pole retains its bluish hue in this true color Cassini image, even as Northern Winter is coming to an end. The azure blue of Saturn's Winter Hemisphere during the early Cassini prime mission still remains a puzzle. Over the course of time, the blue color has faded and has been replaced with bands of other hues (see also PIA11141).
The North Pole is in shadow here, but a portion of its oscillating hexagonal pattern is visible. Storms create the look of a pockmarked surface.
Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this Natural Color view. The images were acquired with the Cassini Spacecraft wide-angle camera on Nov. 29, 2008 at a distance of approx. 1,1 MKM (about 683.000 miles) from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-Spacecraft, or Phase, Angle of 38°.
Image scale is roughly 62 Km (about 39 miles) per pixel".MareKromium
|
|
Saturn-PIA10568.jpgNorth Polar Hues (possible Natural Colors; credits: Lunar Explorer Italia)65 visiteCpation NASA:"Cassini imaging scientists have waited years for the Sun to reveal the Hexagonal Wave Pattern (a.k.a.: The Hexagon) in the clouds of Saturn's North Pole, part of which can be seen at the top of this image from the Cassini Spacecraft. This mosaic combines four separate near-InfraRed images to show one full side of the Hexagon and two partial sides cut off by shadow.
When the Spacecraft arrived in 2004, Winter darkened the North Pole. As the Planet continues its 29-year orbit, the Sun sheds more light on northern features and uncovers more of this strange, long-lived formation first observed in Voyager images of the illuminated Northern Pole from the early 1980's.
False color images made from data collected by Cassini's Visual and InfraRed Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) have previously captured the full six-sided pattern in the IR Light. (See PIA09188)
South of the Hexagon at least five large storm systems can be seen spinning in a sea of smaller storms.
The image was taken with the Cassini Spacecraft wide-angle camera on Dec. 1, 2008 using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of near-iIR Light centered at 752 nanometers. The view was obtained at a distance of approx. 712.000 kilometers (442,000 miles) from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 69 degrees. Image scale is 39 Km (such as about 24 miles) per pixel".MareKromium
|
|
Saturn-PIA10578.jpgThe Northern Hemisphere of Saturn (Natural Colors; credits: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute)54 visiteCaption NASA:"A chef's bounty of colors is represented in this full color view of Saturn's Northern Hemisphere.
Butternut, peach, and olive hues have replaced the azure blue of Winter. The blue of Saturn's Winter Hemisphere during the early Cassini Prime Mission still remains a puzzle. Over the course of time, the blue color has faded and has been replaced with bands of other hues (see also PIA11141).
This picture is a combination of images taken in red, green and blue light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Jan. 1, 2009. The view was obtained at a distance of approx. 1,1 MKM (such as about 680.000 miles) from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-Spacecraft, or Phase, Angle of 28°.
Image scale is roughly 65 Km (about 40 miles) per pixel".MareKromium
|
|
Saturn-PIA10580.jpgSouthern Atmosphere (Natural Colors; credits: Lunar Explorer Italia)54 visiteCaption NASA:"A Cassini Spacecraft image captures a bright, oblong storm swirling high through the Middle Latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere.
The image was taken through a spectral filter centered on wavelengths of light that are strongly absorbed by Methane gas. Hence, any light making it through this filter to the camera's detector has bounced off clouds that are high in the Atmosphere, making them visible, while light passing through the cloud-free surroundings gets absorbed by the Methane gas there before it reaches the lower clouds.
The image was taken with the Cassini Spacecraft wide-angle camera on Jan. 5, 2009 using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of near-InfraRed Light centered at 890 nanometers. The view was acquired at a distance of approx. 711.000 Km (such as about 442.000 miles) from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-Spacecraft, or Phase, Angle of 106°.
Image scale is roughly 39 Km (about 24 miles) per pixel".MareKromium
|
|
Saturn-PIA10585.jpgSaturnian Terminator (Natural Colors; credits: Lunar Explorer Italia)56 visiteCaption NASA:"The Terminator nearly covers the South Pole of Saturn and its stormy vortex in darkness.
As the Southern Hemisphere moves toward Winter in the Planet's 29-year orbit, darkness eventually will consume the vortex. But this seasonal change also will bring the North Pole into the light.
This view looks toward the sunlit side of the Rings from about 69° below the Ring-Plane.
The image was taken with the Cassini Spacecraft wide-angle camera on Jan. 6, 2009 using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of near-InfraRed Light centered at 752 nanometers. The view was acquired at a distance of approx. 761.000 Km (about 473.000 miles) from Saturn and at a Phase Angle of 96°.
Image scale is roughly 42 Km (approx. 26 miles) per pixel.MareKromium
|
|
Saturn-PIA10588.jpgJust like an Iris... (Natural Colors; credits: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute55 visiteCaption NASA:"Rendered in myriad hues, vivid details of Saturn's stormy Atmosphere play out below the shadow of the Rings. A well defined storm swirls through the atmosphere of the southern hemisphere in the lower left of the image, like the tight blue circle of an eye's iris.
This view looks toward the sunlit side of the Rings from about 36° below the Ring-Plane.
Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this Natural Color view. The images were obtained with the Cassini Spacecraft wide-angle camera on Dec. 29, 2008 at a distance of approx. 1,1 MKM (such as about 680.000 miles) from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-Spacecraft, or Phase, Angle of 51°.
Image scale is roughly 60 Km (about 37 miles) per pixel".MareKromium
|
|
Saturn-PIA10591.jpgHigh Southern Latitudes (Natural Colors; credits: Lunar Explorer Italia)54 visiteCaption NASA:"Intricate curlicues and circular patterns of storms swirl through the High Latitudes near Saturn's South Pole in this image from the Cassini Spacecraft.
The view was obtained at a distance of approx. 588.000 Km (such as abpout 365.000 miles) from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-Spacecraft, or Phase, Angle of 140°. At this High Phase Angle, the Sun is illuminating the limb of the Planet from almost the opposite side of Saturn from the Spacecraft.The image was taken with the Cassini Spacecraft wide-angle camera on Jan. 5, 2009 using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of near-InfraRed Light centered at 752 nanometers.
Image scale is roughly 32 Km (about 20 miles) per pixel".MareKromium
|
|
Saturn-PIA10596.jpgSouthern Turbulence (Natural Colors; credits: Lunar Explorer Italia)58 visiteCaption NASA:"Through the Atmosphere of the Southern Hemisphere of Saturn rolls a large storm, seen here as a tight dark circle in the lower left of this image. Horizontal strands of other atmospheric formations give the image the fibrous look of travertine stone.
Prometheus (about 86 Km, or 53 miles across) is a small dark dot in the top left part of the image.
The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Dec. 30, 2008 using a combination of polarized and spectral filters sensitive to wavelengths of near-InfraRed Light centered at 752 nanometers.
The view was acquired at a distance of approx. 1,2 MKM (about 750.000 miles) from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-Spacecraft, or Phase, Angle of 27°.
Image scale is roughly 68 Km (approx. 42 miles) per pixel".MareKromium
|
|
Saturn-PIA10598.jpgThe C-Ring (Natural Colors; credits: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute)56 visiteCaption NASA:"The Cassini Spacecraft peers through Saturn's delicate, translucent inner C-Ring to see the diffuse blue limb of Saturn's Atmosphere.
This view looks toward the unilluminated side of the rings from about 20° above the Ring-Plane. Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this Natural Color view. The images were obtained with the Cassini Spacecraft narrow-angle camera on April 25, 2008 at a distance of approx. 1,5 MKM (about 930.000 miles) from Saturn.
Image scale is roughly 8 Km (approx. 5 miles) per pixel".MareKromium
|
|
Saturn-PIA11141.jpgThe Lord of the Rings (natural colors; credits: NASA)54 visiteCaption NASA:"As Saturn advances in its orbit toward Equinox and the Sun gradually moves Northward on the Planet, the motion of Saturn's Ring shadows and the changing colors of its atmosphere continue to transform the face of Saturn as seen by Cassini.
This captivating natural color view was created from images collected shortly after Cassini began its extended Equinox Mission in July 2008. It can be contrasted with earlier images from the Spacecraft's four-year Prime Mission that show the shadow of Saturn's Rings first draped high over the Planet's Northern Hemisphere, then shifting Southward as Northern Summer changed to Spring.
During this time, the colors of the Northern Hemisphere have evolved from azure/blue to a multitude of muted-colored bands.
This mosaic combines 30 images — 10 each of red, green and blue light — taken over the course of approximately two hours as Cassini panned its wide-angle camera across the entire Planet and Ring System on July 23, 2008, from a southerly elevation of 6°.
Six moons complete this constructed panorama: Titan, Janus, Mimas, Pandora, Epimetheus and Enceladus.
NASA's Cassini Spacecraft captured these images at a distance of approx. 1,1 MKM (such as about 690.000 miles) from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-Spacecraft, or phase, angle of 20°. Image scale is roughly 70 Km (about 43,6 miles) per pixel".MareKromium
|
|
| 2245 immagini su 188 pagina(e) |
 |
|
|
|
|
138 | |
|
|
|
|
